Bama baseball on verge of elimination at SEC Tournament

By Alex ScarboroughSports Writer

Friday

May 27, 2011 at 12:28 AM

HOOVER | It didn’t take long for things to go wrong for University of Alabama starting pitcher Adam Morgan.

HOOVER | It didn’t take long for things to go wrong for University of Alabama starting pitcher Adam Morgan.The first pitch Morgan threw against the Florida Gators in the SEC Tournament on Thursday was rocketed for a double off the wall in the right-centerfield gap.The next pitch was dribbled back toward the mound on a sacrifice bunt. Morgan pounced on the harmless grounder, cornered the ball and whiffed, watching it go by for an error.A few pitches later, Morgan gave up a walk to SEC player of the year Mike Zunino to load the bases and later Florida scored two runs. As quickly as Alabama took the field, it was shuffled off of it. Florida used its first-inning recipe throughout the game, beating Alabama 6-0 at Regions Park.With the loss, Alabama will face Arkansas this afternoon at 3 p.m. UA beat Arkansas in Game 1 on Wednesday, 7-4. Jonathan Smart will start for the Tide.Morgan was chased off after allowing five earned runs in 32⁄3 innings. The junior left-hander from Marietta, Ga., struggled navigating the potent Gators lineup, surrendering seven hits.On the other side of the diamond, Florida starter Hudson Randall had no such ill effects. Whenever Alabama mounted a threat, Randall induced the double play.Junior shortstop Jared Reaves hit into two of three Alabama double plays, each coming with two runners on base and less than two outs. A dejected Reaves spoke after the game about his 0-for-4 night, pointing out it could have been much different if he was successful at the plate.“You drop a few hits in in those situations and it’s a different game,” Reaves said. “It was a momentum killer.”Working from ahead, Randall kept Alabama with one foot in the grave, working eight strong innings, allowing only four hits and one walk. The sophomore pounded the strike zone, throwing 57 strikes on 89 pitches.Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard heaped heavy praise on Randall, comparing him to 350-game winner Greg Maddux. Gaspard said Randall fools batters with less than overwhelming stuff, all the while hitting his spots and dictating the pace of at-bats.“He’s Greg Maddux. Everything moves, the ball stays down,” Gaspard said of the Florida starter. “Even when you get an advantage count — 2-0, 3-1 — he makes a quality pitch.“He makes pitches. Even though he may not have the dominating, overpowering fastball it’s still in that 88-91 range with sink in the right spot with good location.”In a twist of irony, the last time Alabama was shut out came at the hands of Randall on April 22. The lanky right-hander tossed 61⁄3 innings of shutout ball, walking two and striking out one.Where the Alabama offense failed, the Florida lineup succeeded, using the UA formula of small ball against them, pulling off double steals and a few hit-and-run plays to perfection.The Gators pick-pocketed runs, distributing all 11 hits throughout the batting order.“That’s a tremendous offense Florida has one through nine,” Gaspard said. “They really had it going starting with the first pitch with Smith smoking the ball in the gap. They put some bunts down. They executed the double steal. It was a very dominant performance. They executed everything they put on.”Alabama center fielder Taylor Dugas was one of three batters to muster a hit against Florida. He said that while it’s disappointing to lose a game so thoroughly, the team has to put it behind them if they want to make some noise in the tournament.“We can’t dwell on this,” Dugas said. “We have to move on and keep swinging the bats.”With the loss, Alabama will face Arkansas this afternoon at 3 p.m. UA beat Arkansas in Game 1 on Wednesday, 7-4. Jonathan Smart will start for the Tide.